No. Even if they could, it wouldn’t necessarily amount to anything. So I buy a half pint of potato salad at the little grocery store a few blocks from work. So what? I almost pity the poor schmuck who has to “examine” all my boring-ass purchases.
Sorry to be so snappy. Pretend I looked at you with interest and politely asked: What were the issues brought up here which give you pause?
Well, I can’t pretend to know all the arguments (since I’ve never really spread/shared them, only read them, as I mention above). But I’m at least mildly sympathetic to the POV (since I’ve not yet read convincing arguments otherwise; I could certainly be swayed in the other direction) that such a thing would basically let either the government have access to your entire financial history (and everything you do, including that little visit to the motels you don’t want anyone to know about) or corporations sell your financial life to anyone they want (including what porn you buy, what medications you take, and that thing you do in the bedroom that’s kind of embarrassing). It’d be an easy way to discredit the leaders of movements you find inconvenient, or anyone else making waves.
Will the public start demanding access to that from their (potential) political leaders? If so, who actually thinks they’ll allow that, creating a “privileged class” of privacy that no “common citizen” has?
Hmm. Having to write this out certainly tells me I’m not up on these arguments. I’ll have to look them up again somewhere, if I can find them again.
[quote=“NinetyWt, post:51, topic:555768”]
I work in a downtown mall where you have to pay to park. They have an arts and crafts fair once a week with people selling jewelry and candles and jams and jellies and the Mennonite ladies come and sell farm produce. Even though I do most of my shopping at grocery stores, sometimes it’s nice to pick up a tomato to go with lunch or different bread. And while I have a pre-paid, monthly parking pass, our part-timers who maybe work once a week have to pay to park. And while my church has electronic deposit service for those who wish to pay that way, they do not have credit cards slips in the pews for guests or people who want to contribute infrequently. And the little kids selling tickets don’t have credit card machines, nor does the coffee and chocolate guy, though they will accept checks. We’re a very well-to-do congregation, and no one has EVER complained about paying for little things like that in cash. And one of the most popular chains around here that sells groceries and drugstore items only takes cash, checks or Discover. And they are hugely popular, mainly because their prices are way, way lower than the regular grocery stores. And they tell us they keep their prices down by NOT accepting credit or debit cards. Heck, they just recently installed bar-code scanners! And they are always busy.
And I buy the bulk of my Girl Scout cookies from the nieces, and I can’t ever remember them giving the choice of a credit card. And even so…have you never been tempted to buy just one more box of cookies when you pass by a table? Not ever? Never got a craving for a Samoa or a Do-Si-Do? Even engineers have cravings, don’t they?
When I go to Wal-Mart or wherever, I can swipe my card, key in the PIN, and request cash back all while the cashier is scanning the items. I dont need to wait for everything to be rung up. When it’s all totalled, all the cashier needs to do is hand me my receipt and any cash I requested and I’m off like a flash. People who use cash are the ones who take longer.
Definitely not the case for me. I generally know how much money is in my bank account, and so when I use Interac debit (and credit, really, because I pay off the card every month it amounts to the same), I mentally adjust how much money I have accordingly. When I take cash from the ATM, I mentally deduct that as well, and so it’s like it’s already been spent, even if it’s in my pocket. So I spend it on anything, and end up paying for things I don’t really need and end up spending more overall.
I really don’t worry about this stuff. So what if they find out that I shop at the grocery store near my house (the location of which is already information the government has), or that I pay for my metro card at the metro near the school I go to (also something the government knows), or shop for clothes in the downtown core of the city I live in? What will the government do with that information that they can’t do with the information they already have?
Life’s too short to be so paranoid.
I reckon it’s a matter of semantics; I would expect to find arts and crafts at an arts and crafts fair, not vegetables. 
However, if I went to a place like that I would plan ahead for it and bring cash.
I have yet to be walking somewhere and pass a table with Girl Scouts selling cookies. Back when I used to buy them, it was somebody’s kid selling them and I filled out the information on the envelope and gave the girl a check; weeks later I got my cookies.
We had a similar thread about spending habits a while back. I think a lot of this has to do with the place a person lives. I live in a suburban town. I work out of my home. The only places I go during the day are places like the post office, blueprint shop, MDOT plans room, other people’s offices, etc. There isn’t any train or bus service here, I don’t pay to park anywhere, I don’t stop for a coffee or food anywhere … I just don’t need to carry cash.
Someone who lives in the city, rides public transit, stops for coffee or sweets, buys the newspaper, eats lunch out everyday … that person might have a reason to carry cash.
Do vendors at farmers’ markets take credit cards anywhere? The ones around here don’t. That’s another place to pay with cash.
I want to say I’ve seen vendors with that kind of set up, but I’m not sure. I know for a fact that at fandom conventions (ie: sci-fi, anime, whatever have you), many of the vendors there now take credit cards, which I think connect to the cell phone network. I’ve even seen one where the card reader connected to a Nokia cell phone.
ETA: Also, worth noting, if you’ve never been to one of these places, the vendors are usually set up at tables in a big conference room with their wares laid out for you to look at, there’s no place I can see where it’d be easy to hook into a telephone hardline, though there are many floor outlets for electricity.
With a discount equivalent to the charge card expense.
I rarely use a CC and NEVER use a debit card. It’s a combination of credit protection and accountability. I don’t spend what I don’t have and I have no problem avoiding unnecessary purchases. I never give my card out in a situation where it leaves my line of sight and that is to prevent someone from copying the info with a palm reader.
I guess that’s part of the problem… I don’t even know what Samoas or Do-Si-Do’s are. I think the only time I’d buy Girl Scout Cookies would be from colleagues, and only not to be anti-social. (I’m fat because I drink too much beer, not because I have irresistible cravings for junk food.)
The closest farmers’ market is 12 miles away, so to go there I would have to be planning on it. Planning ahead = stop by the ATM and get cash. The fruit stand here in town takes CC/ATM cards.
I don’t incur a charge to use my debit card; I rarely have to hand it to a clerk (usually the card swipe machine is right in front of me) and then it’s not out of my sight. At the grocery store I go through the self-checkout and swipe my debit card at the end. I’m not holding up the line.
If I have cash on me, I’ll spend it. If it’s in a debit card, I’ll spend it when I need to.
But who cares if they copy it? It won’t be your problem if it’s used.
It’s fairly easy to order stuff by credit or debit card if you have the number, especially if you have the security code. And a debit card doesn’t have the $50 limit on liability that a credit card does, in the States. That is, if someone got hold of my debit card and had an ID to match it, she could merrily spend the couple of thousand that’s in the related account, and my credit union is under no legal requirement to eat that loss, it all comes out of my pocket. As it happens, I think that my credit union would try to help me find out who used my card fraudulently, and prosecute, but many banks are not nearly so accommodating.
Which is why credit cards are so much better. Plus, as I said before, cash back. I get what is basically a 1% discount on every single thing I buy and all I have to do is pay the balance at the end of the month so that it costs me nothing. I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t do this!
If my debit card were stolen and used, the bank would not expect me to honor those charges. I’d have to swear out an affidavit that it was stolen, but that’s all I’d have to do. I know this because my son’s card was stolen in a carjacking and used for several purchases. He was not held responsible for any of the charges.
Just thought of something else:
Garage sales are cash only, in my experience. Certainly, when we have a garage sale ourselves, we only take cash, and I’ve never been to one that was any different.
Flea markets also, are cash only, usually.
Oh, my, how could I neglect to be in a perpetual state of readiness for such critical events! All my life I have been walking around unable to make use of garage sales and flea markets without a trip to the ATM!
It’s a wonder I made it this far.
But this is the thing: If you count everything I’ve listed in this thread that take cash only, it all combines to things that I DO encounter regularly. So it makes sense to be prepared for them.
Probably the most common things are vending machines. Those I use several times a week, probably. Then I have to spend cash elsewhere to get change for the vending machines.
Parking meters a few times a month. Need to spend cash elsewhere to get change for these as well.
The taco truck maybe once every few weeks.
My dry cleaners I use about once a month.